John McCain halts treatment for brain cancer

Sen. John McCain has decided to stop treatment for the brain cancer he has been battling for over a year, his family said Friday in an announcement that precipitated a rare moment of bipartisan empathy in honor of the Vietnam war hero and Republican political veteran.

Colleagues of McCain, 81, had been bracing for the worst for months as the Arizona senator retreated from public life to fight the disease. But Friday’s news left them shaken nonetheless. It effectively closes a tumultuous Washington career that included two unsuccessful presidential runs and saw McCain emerge as a singular political figure, an icon of the Senate and latterly as a vehement critic of President Donald Trump.